John 1:43-46

⁴³The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, He said to him, "Follow Me." ⁴⁴Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." ⁴⁶"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip.

Jesus and Phillip. Next we read that Jesus found Phillip as He was leaving for Galilee and said to him, “Follow Me.” And Phillip does so. This is a great illustration of the power of Jesus’ word. We’ll read later in this Gospel as well of the power of Jesus’ word when He calls to Lazarus, “Come out!” Jesus has life-giving power in His voice, in His word, and it is this very same power that the Holy Spirit uses to quicken us to spiritual life. When we were dead, God made us alive, simply by calling our name. Now based on the language, it is likely that Jesus and Phillip knew one another, and only now does Jesus make His authority known to Phillip; and Phillip, who likely knew Jesus as a friend, now sees Him for who He is, and rightly obeys the command to follow Him.

We also read in these verses that Andrew, Peter, and Phillip are from Bethsaida. Calvin comments, “The name of the city [was] mentioned on purpose, that the goodness of God to the three Apostles may be more illustriously displayed. We know how severely, on other occasions, Christ threatens and curses that city (Matthew 11:21; Luke 10:13). Accordingly, when God brought into favor with Him some out of a nation so ungodly and wicked, we ought to view it in the same light as if they had been brought out of the lowest hell. And when Christ, after having drawn them out of that deep gulf, honors them so highly as to make them Apostles, it is a distinguished favor and worthy of being recorded.”

Next, like Andrew reaching out to Simon Peter, so Phillip reaches out to Nathanael. Phillip, despite not getting the quality time with Jesus that Andrew and John had, simply believes their testimony, and with a child-like faith, proclaims to Nathanael that Jesus of Nazareth is none other than the Prophet of Deuteronomy 18:15-22 that we addressed earlier and the One proclaimed by the prophets. We could get theological and point of that Jesus was “of Bethlehem” rather than Nazareth, and that He was “Son of God,” rather than Joseph, but Phillip is not technically wrong on these points. (We might learn here that God blesses our evangelism efforts despite our ignorance and/or error.) What is significant is that Phillip recognizes the important facts about Jesus – that the Law and the prophets testify of Him.

Nathanael, who is a “true Israelite in whom there is nothing false,” as Jesus will proclaim in a moment, practically denies Phillip’s claims. Phillip persists with Nathanael, repeating the words of Jesus to Andrew and John, “Come and see.” This is for us as well. If I excitedly proclaim, “I have found the cure for cancer!” you might be inclined to say two things: First, “There is no cure for cancer.” And second, “You are incapable of that. It’s not in your skill set. You’re not a medical scientist.” Whatever the objection may be, if my claim is true, then I should invite you to come and see. The same goes for our efforts in evangelism. We, like Phillip, may not know the whole truth about Jesus. We may not be able to overcome all objections. But “we know who we have believed” (2 Timothy 1:12). And when we say, “I have found the way to eternal life – it is through Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of my sins and for the perfect righteousness required by God,” people may say it’s too simple, it’s only a story, I don’t buy it, I don’t need it, nothing good can come from Nazareth, you’re naïve, you’re wrong, that’s fine for you but not for me, or you couldn’t have possibly found it, because you’re not that smart. Whatever the excuse may be, persist and say, “Come and see.” Show them Jesus. Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him."